Middle Eastern Nut-Filled Multilayered Pastry

(Baklava)

Baklava (from the Farsi for “many leaves”), a pastry perfected by royal
bakers in the sultan’s palace in Istanbul, consists of layers of phyllo filled
with nuts and spices and drenched in a syrup. It has become a traditional
Middle Eastern Rosh Hashanah and Purim treat but is enjoyed at celebration
throughout the year. There are numerous variations of baklava, many a
closely guarded secret passed down within families. A walnut filling is more
prevalent in the Levant, while pistachios and pistachio-almond filling are
preferred in Iran. Blanched almonds are traditional on Rosh Hashanah to
produce a light color so that the year should be dulce y aclarada (“sweet and
bright”).
Sephardim refrain from serving dark-colored pastries such as those made
from walnuts on Rosh Hashanah, which would portend a dark year.
Although purist disdain anything except the classic nut filling, some cooks
innovated by adding such items as dates and chocolate chips. Hungarians
make an apricot version. This very rich treat is usually served in small
portion.
Ingredients: Yield 50
Syrup:

5 ½ cups granulated sugar

4 cups water
2 ½ cups honey
3 fl.oz lemon juice
3 fl.oz corn syrup
6 sticks cinnamon
15 whole cloves
1 tbsp ground cardamom

1. To make the syrup: Stir the sugar, water, honey, lemon juice, corn syrup, cinnamon
sticks, and cloves over low heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stop
stirring, increase the heat to medium, and cook the mixture until is slightly thickened,
about 5 minutes (225F). Discard the cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. Let cool.

Filling:
3 # blanched almonds and walnuts combination, finely chopped or coarsely ground
½ cup granulated sugar
1 # unsalted butter chill and chopped in medium cubes
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground cloves
To make the filling: Combine all the filling ingredients in a medium bowl.

3 # phyllo dough
About 1 # melted butter with ¼ cup vegetable oil + a pastry brush

Preheat conventional oven at 350 F.

2. Brush you tray well with melted butter using the pastry brush.
Place 1 sheet of phyllo in a ½ sheet pan and lightly brush with butter (total 8 sheets per
layer). Repeat with 7 more sheets. Spread with half of the filling. Top with 8 more sheets
per layer (total 16), brushing each with butter. Use any torn sheets in the middle layer.
Spread with the remaining nut mixture and end with a top layer of 8
Crush ½ tsp saffron threads and let steep in ¼ cup of the melted butter for 15 minutes and
use to brush the top sheet of phyllo.
Now you need to cut the baklava and decorate.
Take you knife and cut vertical straight lines all the way to the bottom. (Approx. 2cm
apart) then spin the tray and cut more lines but diagonally to form diamond shapes. When
you've cut the shapes, push a pine nut into each shape.

Just before baking, lightly sprinkle the top of the pastry with cold water. Bake for 20
minutes. Reduce to 300 F and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
Drizzle the cooled syrup slowly over the hot baklava and let cool at room
temperature. Cover and store at room temperature.